Well, its not really over, except for chapter five. But David says that he needs to get a real job so Crimson Dark will become merely a weekly (and he’s worried about even making that schedule).

That saddens me.

I’m reading Leithart on P. J. O’Rourke on Taylor Clark on Starbucks.  It is an eye-opening account of the good, the bad, and the evil (the fair trade tyranny).

I wish I could believe that Barnes & Noble and Border’s are doing for books what Starbuck’s is doing for coffee (allowing the opening of a lot of stores, including “mom&pops”).  But the internet interferes with that possibility.

Still, with that many coffee shops opening up, it seems to me that the Starbucks phenomenon may end up being the last refuge for retail books and music.

Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry

OK, which one of the following constitutes an exception to the constitution of the PCA:

1. The visible church is not the body of Christ.
2. The visible church is the body of Christ.

Here is the relevant data. First, the the Westminster Confession states:

CHAPTER 25: Of the Church

1. The catholic or universal church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.

2. The visible church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.

Second, at the beginning of the PCA’s Book of Church Order, in part two of the Preface we read:

The Presbyterian Church in America, in setting forth the form of government founded upon and agreeable to the Word of God, reiterates the following great principles which have governed the formation of the plan

There then follows a list of these principles. The third one begins:

Our blessed Saviour, for the edification of the visible Church, which is His body, has appointed officers not only to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, but also to exercise discipline for the preservation both of truth and duty.

So we have a straightforward definition of the invisible church as (among other things) the body of Christ.  We have a definition of the visible Church that doesn’t include a statement that it is the body of Christ.  And we have a statement that the visible Church is the body of Christ.  In fact we have more than one.  For example, again in the BCO:

CHAPTER 2

The Visible Church Defined

2-1. The Visible Church before the law, under the law, and now under the Gospel, is one and the same and consists of all those who make profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, together with their children.

2-2. This visible unity of the body of Christ, though obscured, is not destroyed by its division into different denominations of professing Christians; but all of these which maintain the Word and Sacraments in their fundamental integrity are to be recognized as true branches of the Church of Jesus Christ.

2-3. It is according to scriptural example that the Church should be divided into many individual churches.

Note the consistency. If the visible church was not the body of Christ, then the divisions in the church could not possibly either obscure, or raise the issue of destroying, the unity of the body of Christ.

So it follows inexorably that, to doctrinally agree with the constititution of the PCA, one must teach that

1. The invisible Church is the body of Christ.
2. The visible Church is the body of Christ.

This should not be controversial.  And it should be understood that one cannot amend the constitution of the PCA by a study committee, no matter how stacked, and no matter how many votes it accrued.

Pretty interesting summary.

Since Jandy’s done with it.  I figure it is fair game.

I had read this already, but Glenn Lucke reminded me of it. Here’s some of the latest news:

Two weeks ago I had my update CT scan and me with Dr. Hofstetter. He detailed for me what, exactly, I’m asking for with this surgery. Serious stuff it turns out. The hilar lymph nodes are wrapped around the pulmonary artery, so “scraping” it off puts the whole lung at risk. In addition, the two nodes are unfortunately one on each side. This means two complete surgeries, like I had in Jan & Mar of 2007. Painful. Lung surgery is done one lung at a time, so you can breathe with one while the surgeon deflates and works on the other. He would go in through the ribs in the back to get one side. Then I’d have to recover for a couple months and do it again on the other. Another risk is that the lymph nodes are located such that it may be necessary to remove completely the upper lobe of the given lung to get to it. I would have enough capacity to live, but one would rather keep as much lung as possible. Finally, he reminded me, that it is very unlikely this surgery will cure me completely. Given all this, Dr. Hofstetter wanted to make sure we were doing everything else possible first – in other words, keep doing chemo if it is working.

This is certainly scary stuff. Surgery is a risky path. But the way I look at it, having cancer in your body is a risky path, too.

I then met with Dr. Eng two days before thanksgiving. She had been talking with Dr. Hofstetter. Given the sobering difficulties with surgery, I was surprised how they both seemed to be treating the surgery path as viable. Because of several reasons, Dr. Eng thinks that after four more rounds, the window of opportunity for surgery will be better. And it seems like they think it might be a good option, after all. I’ve been asking them and other doctors about this kind of surgery and I’m finding that no one recalls going in specifically to take these lymph nodes out. The reason is that typically by the time colon cancer shows up in these lymph nodes (which is a common place for it to show up), there is cancer all over the place. In my case, everywhere where they’ve mopped up using five surgeries and radiation has stayed clean. These two nodes are the only signs now of the cancer. That and my youth, Dr. Eng explained, provide reasons to do the surgery.

The option to continue chemo was strengthened by the result of the CT scan. Yet again we saw dramatic success of the chemo. Four rounds ago, the largest of the two nodes was 4.7cm. Now it is less than half that. What is so remarkable about this is that I have been taking 5-fu based chemotherapy since 2003. Only half of colon cancer cases see significant response from chemotherapy at all. And those that do, it eventually becomes ineffective by a year to two years. Mine is still responsive after four-plus years. Also, the cancer, they say, is growing very slowly relative to what is normal. Is there such a thing as good cancer?

In the meantime, his wife Christine also deals with health issues.

Christine has been doing as badly as we have seen. She is in much pain most of the time. My sisters and their families flew in for Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad’s house here in Dallas. The night before Thanksgiving, Christine’s migraine got to the dreaded level she sees about twice-a-year where the pain causes her to throw up and be at a 10 level. By morning it was completely unbearable. So while everyone shared turkey, we sat in the ER as they treated her pain with the power drugs.

So please pray for both of them. And pray that, whatever happens, he is able to continue to demonstrate that gloriously creative cheerfulness that he does so well:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/arNQ8TJespM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

The fact that this had to be written.